Who has your whole heart? Is it Jesus? He has committed to you completely and wants you to do the same: by striving to love him with your whole heart. He desires your whole heart because he wants you to know the depth of his love for you. He wants to fill all the longings you have, and to have a deep relationship with you that satisfies more than anything the world can offer.
He wants you to know the fullness of his love. When you know the sacrifices he made for you, his devotion to you is clear… but is yours? Your devotion to him is shown by the posture and surrender of your heart. In order to embrace the full depth of the relationship he desires with you, you need to understand how to love God with all your heart. In turn, you can live your best life: the one he has for you.
What Does it Mean to Love God?
Do you want to know how to love God more than anything? Loving God means you seek to put him first in your life, which starts with your heart. When you strive to love God with all your heart, you can then love yourself and love people: love is the greatest commandment. There are many Bible verses about loving God with all your heart, with this being the greatest.
Practically, loving God means you seek him when you need to make a decision—big or small—wanting his will. You go to him at all times. You acknowledge his complete control over everything and you depend on him.
With these desires, you are showing him you love him; you place your trust in him to work all things out and don’t think or worry about yourself. Loving God means you deny yourself and put him above it all.
You try to faithfully follow his word in the Bible, obey him, worship him, and praise him in good and bad times. You stay in a posture of surrender to him, admiring him with reverence and respecting his stewardship over you.
You fear him in a wonderful way because you know his sovereignty is best. This devotion towards him starts with knowing the great unrelenting love he has for you.
Love the Lord Your God With All Your Heart
You must understand the natural state of the heart. It is misleading and where the root of sin lives.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.’” (Jeremiah 17:9-10, NIV)
Bad thoughts can lead to wrong actions. Emotions that can cause you to walk in sin. Motives that are not pure. All this starts in the heart.
But when you come to know Jesus, you become a new creation. This allows you to be able to take thoughts captive, to bring them to him; to lay your emotions at his feet and not be controlled by them; to not let immoral motives win out.
You now have the choice to not sin, because he can help you. Your sinful nature doesn’t have to control you anymore. His power within you gives you the ability to turn away from sin if you choose to rely on it.
You can learn what sin is on your heart by asking him, and knowing that he is searching you. He can show you so you can walk in greater submission to him. This will allow you to give your heart to God more completely and to love him more with it.
Moving forward, you have to make a choice to guard your heart.
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” (Proverbs 4:23, NLT)
Loving God with all your heart means you need to live in his righteousness. Keep your heart pure. God sees the heart.
How to Love God With All Your Heart
To love the Lord your God with all your heart, you have to make sure your heart is not hardened towards him.
Making sure you are open to his correction and discipline is important. But it’s also necessary to focus on his constant love for you.
God knows the desires of your heart. You must have the right motives before God. This starts with fully obeying him with the right heart posture. He wants you to believe and follow the gospel because your heart loves him so much and wants to please him alone.
“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.” (Romans 6:17, NIV)
Examining your heart will allow you to love him wholeheartedly.
Below, you will find 5 ways you can examine yourself to love God with all your heart.
Your Words
Your words can show your heart. Jesus speaks of this truth in Matthew:
“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:34-36, NIV)
How you speak about God to others can show how devoted your heart is to him. Thus, it’s important to ask Jesus for the power of the Holy Spirit to change your heart, and thus your words, so you can recognize his power, sovereignty and greatness.
Ask for this daily, and for the Holy Spirit to make you aware so you can change. How you speak about him demonstrates your heart’s love for him.
Your Willingness
Are you willing to do whatever Jesus asks of you? Jesus wants your heart to be open to always following him. You can see this modeled by the disciples he chose.
“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:18-20, NIV)
They were just like you and me. Ordinary people, but they had a willing heart to obey Jesus.
You need to have a willing heart as well—willing to do whatever he calls you to. This heart posture indicates that you love him completely.
Pray that Jesus gives you a willing heart, no matter the cost, to do what he wants you to do.
Your Actions
When it comes to following God, do your actions match your words? When you are moved to take action to obey him, and don’t just say the right things, it shows that you love him.
We can see this in the parable of the two sons. The first son answered honestly and did what he said he would. The second son didn’t.
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.” (Matthew 21:30, NIV)
When you say something, you need to do it because this is having integrity in God. This shows your heart to him, to love him completely.
Your Idols
Jesus calls you to solely worship and praise him. Nothing should take priority in your heart above him… but as human beings, we can put things before him.
We can love and treasure things ahead of him: our children, spouses, jobs, wants, pursuits, etc. God’s word cautions us against this and makes it clear.
“Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, NLT)
Put God first. Love him and fear him. Put everything else in your life in his hands. To do this you can survey your heart daily to make sure God is first—not making anything an idol—and you are only loving him above all.
Your Commitment
To love the Lord your God with all your heart you must examine your commitment to him. You are either devoted to him or following and obtaining things of the world.
Jesus makes it clear in his conversation with the rich man that storing up things of this world should not be your goal if you are seeking his kingdom. It shouldn’t be your priority.
“Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’” (Mark 10:21, NIV)
If you are wholeheartedly committed to loving Jesus with your heart, then you must not look to store up things in this world. You shouldn’t try to go along with the world; be like Jesus. Your devotion to him should be clear and can be demonstrated by how you live your life: love is the greatest gift of all that you can give him.
If you’ve been wondering how to Love God with all your heart, it requires that you intentionally examine yourself by checking your words, your willingness, your actions, your idols, and your commitment. The greatest commandment is love; God loves you so much, and you should strive to do the same.
